Christie Lynn Smith’s Blog: Baby’s First Bath

Actress Christie Lynn Smith is inviting Celebrity Baby Scoop readers to follow along as she adjusts to her growing family. The General Hospital star and husband, actor John Fortson, recently welcomed their second child, son Joshua, on December 22.

In her second guest blog, the Paging Dr. Freed actress – also mom to 4-year-old daughter Abby - opens up about Joshua’s first bath that she describes as a “spa treatment.” She goes on to talk about her struggles to “keep a sleepy baby awake, ” and asks our readers for tips: “Iʼd love to hear what works for other mommies.”

“Joshua had his first bath yesterday. We have been waiting for his umbilical cord “stump” to fall off so we could. And Iʼm happy to report he LOVED It.

He looked so happy and content as his cute little legs kinda floated in the water. He loved the water being poured over his head and it would drip down his little face. I am sure the warm water on his skin was soothing. His skin is so soft. Ah, to have that soft baby skin again…

And his big sister Abby helped bathe him too. It was really sweet. She loved washing his little feet and feeling like she was helping to take care of her baby brother.

We have a great bath tub from when Abby was little and itʼs great. Itʼs the 4moms Cleanwater tub and it tells you the temperature so you know itʼs in the right “temp zone” for the baby — it tells you if itʼs getting too hot or cold. I kept watching it like a hawk! And all the dirty water goes out on the side, so if he poops or pees in the tub, fresh water gets circulated back in. Itʼs a cool tub!

After he was bathed, we wrapped him all up in a hooded towel and he was was super relaxed and a very happy baby. And then I gave him a little back rub. He loves to have his back massaged. It was Joshuaʼs first “spa” treatment. And after that he had a nice tall glass of “mommy milk.”

I wish I could report that this spa day made him “sleep like a baby,” but he still likes to see the world around 1am. We are working on that — trying our very best to keep him up as much as we can during the day, so he will be “pooped out” by night time.

But itʼs hard to keep a sleepy baby awake. Any tips on this would be great! Iʼd love to hear what works for other mommies.

And even though I did it all before with Abby, it truly feels like the first time. And I am excited to experience everything all over again with Joshua. Whatʼs next?”

From what I know and have experienced, you should not try to keep your infant up during the day so that they sleep better at night. Especially a newborn. Then they are over-tired and can’t sleep at bedtime because of exhaustion. He’s only a month old. He has literally been a human for 30 days. GIve the little guy (and yourself) a break! Eventually you will slide into a rhythm.
Newborns eat every 3-4 hours (give or take dependent on their size and the last meal), so 1:00am is about right for a feeding. If when you feed him, he goes back to sleep, then I think that’s great! If he wont go back to sleep after the feeding and wants to stay up for the next few hours, thats a different sitch.
I dont know all the circumstances, and I am no expert and not pretending to be. I am just giving my opinion. You sound like a great mom!!! Remember, he is a completely different person than your daughter. He isn’t going to do everything the same way she did. Just something to keep in mind. Beuatiful pics! And family!